STOCKS SURGE, ALIBABA TANKS: Here's What You Need To Know

The stock market had a pretty great day today. Just about
everybody was happy. Except for the Alibaba shareholders.

First, the scoreboard:

Dow: 17,416.8, +225.4, (+1.3%)

S&P 500: 2,021.2, +19.1, (+0.9%)

Nasdaq: 4,683.4, +45.4, (+0.9%)

And now the, top
stories:

1. Alibaba
shares got smoked after the company released its quarterly
financial results. Earnings, excluding nonrecurring items,
climbed to $0.81 per share, which was much higher than the $0.74
expected by analysts. Revenue at the Chinese e-retailer surged
40% to $4.22 billion, but analysts were expecting $4.42 billion.
"Gross merchandise volume across our China retail marketplaces
grew 49% year on year, and our annual active buyers increased to
334 million in 2014, an increase of 45% year on year," CEO
Jonathan Lu said. "Our unrivaled leadership and momentum in
mobile continued — we added 48 million active users sequentially
and delivered over US$1 billion in mobile revenue during the
quarter." The stock closed down 8.7%.

3. Good news about jobs.
Initial jobless claims fell to 265,000, the lowest level
since April 15, 2000. This was also much lower than the 300,000
expected by economists. Economists warn that seasonal distortions
around the holidays including the Martin Luther King holiday may
be artificially keeping the number low.

4.
Pending home sales unexpectedly fell 3.7% in December,
missing expectations for a 0.5% increase. “Total inventory fell
in December for the first time in 16 months, resulting in fewer
choices for buyers and a modest uptick in price growth in markets
throughout the country,” the NAR's Lawrence Yun said. “With
interest rates at lows not seen since early 2013, the strength in
existing-sales in upcoming months will largely depend on the
willingness of current homeowners to realize their equity gains
from the past couple years and trade up.”